Broadway shutdown freezes work for SU Drama alumni, students

Shanel Bailey was already on her way to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre when she heard Broadway was closing that night. Her phone buzzed with messages from friends and her “Book of Mormon” castmates. The Syracuse University alumna refreshed her email on the train, waiting for an official company-wide announcement. 

She got to the theater, ready to rehearse. The stage manager immediately told Bailey to gather her stuff and go home.

“I said goodbye to the stage and the theater, thinking ‘alright, that’s a long time, but I can do a month. We’ll be okay,’” she said. 

Broadway suspended all performances through April 12 following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s order to ban gatherings of more than 500 people in response to the continued spread of the novel coronavirus. The Tony Awards, originally scheduled for June 7, are postponed until Broadway reopens. SU was named one of the most represented colleges on Broadway by Playbill last year. 

The first day was full of uncertainty, said Cheech Manohar, an SU alumnus starring in “Mean Girls” on Broadway. Everyone went running to shop for essentials without knowing how much they could afford, unsure of when their next paycheck would come.

Broadway artists were in limbo for days, Manohar said, while entertainment unions held discussions with The Broadway League. On Friday, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act which includes benefits for entertainment workers.

For Manohar, it was a shock to go from eight shows a week to none at all. The Broadway community is used to performing through any natural disasters, conflicts or other national emergencies.

“The work that we do to bring levity and to bring joy to other people is what we were meant to do, and what we still want to do,” Manohar said. “And we will keep doing it online, and we will keep doing it in the safety of our own homes until the day that we can get back to the theater and do it again.”

Students studying in New York City through SU’s Tepper Semester, an immersive training program for drama majors, had their semester cut short when SU suspended residential classes, study abroad and partner programs. 

The Tepper Semester takes students to several Broadway and off-Broadway shows throughout the semester, and offers opportunities to connect with notable composers, agents and other guest artists.

Anju Cloud, a senior musical theater major in the Tepper program, worked at LaDuca Shoes, the top footwear store for Broadway performers and dancers around the world. She watched her manager answer calls from worried clients facing show cancellations. 

Anju Cloud (right) saw Shanel Bailey in “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway this semester. Bailey is in the ensemble and understudies the role of Nabulungi. Courtesy of Anju Cloud

“That day was dark,” Cloud said. It was a hard hit for LaDuca Shoes — some of Cloud’s co-workers, who are performers themselves, began to worry how they’d pay rent.

The streets of New York were “abnormally quiet” that afternoon, said senior Joshua Kring. He was scared to stay in the city and wanted to leave immediately. The off-Broadway show he had tickets to that night got canceled, so Kring went back to his apartment, packed a suitcase, and Ubered to the airport to catch a flight to Minneapolis. 

While it’s sad to see the semester end this way, Kring said he reminds himself that this situation is “bigger than all of us” — it’s a health crisis that no one could have prepared for. It’s challenging to mimic a similar learning environment through online classes, Kring said, but it’s a learning curve that his peers and professors have embraced. Working in theater means staying passionate and driven, he said, even during tough times.

“Our entire lifestyle is basically one minute being on high, and the next minute having to start all over again from ground zero,” he said.

Students in the Tepper Semester this semester previously sang with accompanists in studio classes and danced at Broadway Dance Center three times a week. Now, they video conference and sing a cappella or with a recording at home. 

Some SU students and alumni are taking dance classes online, following along with professors’ Instagram livestreams. Senior Carly Caviglia said she’s still practicing at home, but without in-person corrections from a professor, her technique could be wrong without knowing it.

“You kind of have to rely on your own training and what you know, and what you’ve learned over the last four years from those teachers,” Caviglia said. Online classes have served as a valuable lesson in self-taping, she said, as some auditions require video submissions.

Senior Michaela Vivona said it’s an adjustment to sing and belt in her house for class while her family is also working from home. Her parents were both Broadway performers, and her brother is a musical theater major at another school, so the shutdown hit close to home.

Several people said they’ve explored new creative outlets while social distancing. Manohar has started running and cooking more. Caviglia started painting and learning how to play guitar. 

Meanwhile, Vivona was inspired by one of her Broadway role models to share videos of herself singing on Instagram. Kring eventually wants to be a professor and has spent his free time at home drafting fake lesson plans for classes like musical theater history. 

For Kring, the Broadway shutdown was a “slap in the face of reality.” While it’s uplifting to see the theater community staying positive on social media, he said, people’s livelihoods are at stake in a business that was already unstable to begin with.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund have launched a fundraising campaign for the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. The fund helps entertainment professionals across disciplines secure health care and other financial support in times of need.

Carly Caviglia said she saw several Broadway shows, including “Moulin Rouge” and “West Side Story” before her semester in New York City was cut short. Courtesy of Carly Caviglia

The Actors Fund helped Ryan Ross, an SU alumna and New York-based stage manager, secure health insurance when she didn’t work enough last year. She had stage and screen jobs lined up through June — until Broadway announced its shutdown on her birthday.

The Broadway shutdown has affected the theater community beyond New York City. Regional theaters and national tours have also suspended performances, with some theaters offering ways to watch their shows from home.

Jonalyn Saxer, an SU alumna starring in the “Mean Girls” national tour, had her last show in Fort Lauderdale on March 12. For Saxer, this time at home is an opportunity for the cast to recover, she said, as they rarely get the chance to go home during tour. Some cast members got injured recently, and this break is an opportunity to heal both physically and mentally.

She feels lucky to be part of a show that’s selling well. People want “Mean Girls” to come to their town, so Saxer isn’t worried the tour will be canceled indefinitely. She hopes that people come out to support live theater when things pick back up again.

“We’re so used to art and theater being there when everything else seems to be falling apart,” Saxer said. “That’s why we’re all turning to somehow performing or doing stuff online because we know that we need art in our lives, but we’re a little nervous about what’s going to happen to it when we come back.”